“Lost” episode recap: “I Do” wish it was February already

Damn it, ABC. You better give us something good to chew on while we wait for what’s next.

Guess “I Do” will have to do. So let’s dig into the menu of this week’s episode and chew slowly. After all, the next serving isn’t till next year.

First the appetizer: bittersweet flashbacks.

In this Kate-centric ep, we get flashbacks of Kate’s life as Monica, a bride with a secret. We see Kate loves this cop named Kevin enough to marry him, which she does in a sweet church wedding.

But Kate’s fugitive past is sure to keep her on the run. At least that’s what the U.S. Marshal suggests when she sneaks a call to him to leave her alone.

As we all know, especially in the land of the “Lost,” you can’t run away from your past but you can keep trying. Which Kate does. She reveals her past to Kevin just before the drugged iced tea she gave him kicks in.

Now for the main course: caged heat with a side of buried Eko and sly Jack.

All sorts of action going on in the now. Alex storms the Others’ compound (with a slingshot, no less) to bust out Sawyer and Kate. No surprise, Alex fails. As she’s dragged off, she screams to Kate they’re going to kill her boyfriend “like they did mine.”

Yep. Juliet tells Kate as much. She then takes a hooded Kate to see Jack. Kate begs Jack to do the operation the Others want (namely Ben) or they’ll kill Sawyer.

Jack’s not buying. “We’re done here,” he shouts to the surveillance camera. So Kate’s sent back to her cage. Sawyer’s led back to his with a helping hard hit from Danny the Other.

Meanwhile, Locke, Sayid, Desmond and the two other survivors I’m guessing aren’t long for this earth bury Mr. Eko. As Locke taps Eko’s prayer stick into the ground, he spots some inspirational words: LIFT UP YOUR EYES AND LOOK NORTH.

We look back to the cages, where Kate tells Sawyer about the surgery and Sawyer tells Kate they’re on another island. Kate wonders why he didn’t tell her this before. “Because I wanted you to believe we had a damn chance,” he says.

Caged heat ensues. The nudge-nudge, wink-wink kind.

Meanwhile, Jack finds a way out of his confinement thanks to a helpful voice on the intercom. He discovers the surveillance room and an armory, from which he grabs a gun. He then grabs an eyeful of Kate and Sawyer snuggled together.

Ben shows up and Jack pulls the gun on him. Jack says he’ll do the operation provided he gets off the island. “Done,” Ben says.

Done indeed. As Jack starts the operation, Danny heads over to kill Sawyer. Before Danny can pull the trigger, he gets a frantic walkie-talkie call from his fellow Other back at the operating room.

Jack pulled a fast one and cut Ben’s kidney sack. Ben will die in an hour unless Jack stitches him up and gets what he wants.

What Jack wants is to tell Kate to run away and give him a holler in an hour with the story he told her back when she stitched him up on the beach so long ago.